[GIS] How to Dynamically refresh / reload a KML layer in OpenLayers

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I have previously asked this question to no avail so I thought putting this up here would be a good idea.

Here is an example on:

How to Refresh / Reload a KML layer in OpenLayers. Dynamic KML Layer. See my answer below.

TLDR: See my answer below.

Best Answer

Figured seen as it was hard enough for me to find information on this I would add this:

1)

Create the KML Layer:

            //Define your KML layer
            var MyKmlLayer= new OpenLayers.Layer.Vector("This Is My KML Layer", {
                //Set your projection and strategies//
                projection: new OpenLayers.Projection("EPSG:4326"),
                strategies: [new OpenLayers.Strategy.Fixed()],
                //set the protocol with a url//
                protocol: new OpenLayers.Protocol.HTTP({
                    //set the url to your variable//
                    url: mykmlurl,
                    //format this layer as KML//
                    format: new OpenLayers.Format.KML({
                        //maxDepth is how deep it will follow network links//
                        maxDepth: 1,
                        //extract styles from the KML Layer//
                        extractStyles: true,
                        //extract attributes from the KML Layer//
                        extractAttributes: true
                    })
                })
            });

2)

Set the URL for the KML Layer:

//note that I have host equal to location//   //Math.Random will stop caching//
var mykmlurl= 'http://' + host + '/KML?key=' + Math.random();

3)

Set the interval in which to refresh your layer:

           //function called// //timer// //layer to refresh//
window.setInterval(UpdateKmlLayer, 5000, MyKmlLayer);

4)

The function to update the layer:

            function UpdateKmlLayer(layer) {
                //setting loaded to false unloads the layer//
                layer.loaded = false;
                //setting visibility to true forces a reload of the layer//
                layer.setVisibility(true);
                //the refresh will force it to get the new KML data//
                layer.refresh({ force: true, params: { 'key': Math.random()} });
                //- <3 from Thqr -//
            }

Hopes this makes it easier for some others out there. Good luck.

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